


Fallen and Forgotten

by HylianFishFood



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: BTW, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, OH READER IS NOT GENDERED, Other, Slow Burn, also sans doesnt like you much, gaster shows up starting in ch 2, i like fake science and worldbuilding fight me, like both the plot and the romance experiences severe slow burn, probably, this is very plot driven so i need to Set The Stage first, youll grow on him
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-28
Updated: 2016-04-12
Packaged: 2018-05-29 13:24:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6376699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HylianFishFood/pseuds/HylianFishFood
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For reasons you can't quite explain, you are determined to figure out human souls, especially your own. But something is weird about the entire affair, especially when you literally fall into the void and meet a man who doesn't exist, who shares your scars, who may be the key to unlocking the information you need. </p><p>It doesn't hurt that he's super cute. </p><p>[ABANDONED - SORRY. Anyone who wishes to continue this, feel free, message me and I can give you any plot inklings I had planned]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. To Ask is To Know. Or at least, You Wish it Was.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay I love!!!!! Gaster SO MUCH. This story will be very plot-based, I'll probably do a more drabble focused one too if that's your thing. I just want to write about my void husband. (Also I can't write porn for my life so...not gonna be writing that fyi) 
> 
> Also, this story goes with the assumption that Chara fell in 201X, and Frisk fell around 15 years later, so all the kids fell in a span of 15 years. That detail might be important later...

Most humans haven't seen their soul. Human fights aren't soul based- especially with all the religious and superstitious propaganda surrounding the soul. Hell, humans don't even know how to repair souls, so it's not like you could see one in a hospital or something. So, in recent memory, the only people who have seen their souls would be the kids who have fought monsters...kids who have disappeared in the Underground.

And they aren't exactly around to talk about it, are they?

As someone, very interested in soul-theory, humanity’s refusal to learn anything about souls is _soo frustrating_. Right now, the only resources you have are old legends about monster battles and quizzes in gossip magazines that associate personality with ‘soul type’. So, basically...nothing, and no new info anytime soon. And it’s not even like people RESPECT soul studies, so the only options when people ask you about your goals are ‘music’ and ‘soul theory’, and that really doesn’t help build people’s confidence in you.

You sigh and scroll through the ‘Hiring’ page again. Maybe you would get more done if you actually focused on your activities. You doubt it, though, procrastination is practically your best friend. NOT as good a friend as sleep, though, so you resign yourself to the inevitable and go to bed.

* * *

_ndj sgtpb du p udgvdiitc bpc_

* * *

You don’t think too hard about souls again until a month later - the barrier breaks. Being as intensely interested in soul studies as you are, your first thought is that, if theories about monster battles are to be believed, the kid must have seen their soul. Cool.

The second thought is 'Awesome, a nonbinary kid saved a whole race of people. That'll have to be acknowledged.'

The third thought is 'Hooooooly fuck monsters are real who am I'.

This is...pretty awesome, actually. They probably know some cool stuff, they have to have invented some sort of power to stay alive down there, right? And you bet they know more about souls then you do, so maybe you can put this weird obsession to rest. Overall, this seems like a positive change for everyone.

Unfortunately, the world doesn't share that viewpoint. You aren't surprised, after all, humans can't even deal with their own race, so supporting monsters was probably too much to hope for. Still, it's frustrating, like every other event in your life.

Luckily, your friends are pretty cool about it. Your phone pings- speak of the devil.

 

**Light Blue Beauty: 5:52 PM**

YOOO what's up loser

**Light Blue Beauty: 5:52 PM**

I found this cool bar

 **You: 5:53** **PM**

lmao did you beat anyone up

**Light Blue Beauty: 5:53 PM**

HEAR ME OUT I didn't get into a single fight!!!!

**Light Blue Beauty: 5:53 PM**

but they need acts I figured that maybe you could play piano or sing or smtn

**Light Blue Beauty: 5:54 PM**

you still need a new job right???

**You: 5:54 PM**

yep yep thx bro

**You: 5:55 PM**

not a single fight? Rly? How'd u satisfy your weird pain kink

**Light Blue Beauty: 5:56 PM**

I DONT HAVE A PAIN KINK

**You: 5:56 PM**

what about ur lolita kink

**Light Blue Beauty: 5:56 PM**

I DONT HAVE A LOLITA KINK IM NOT A PEDOPHILE

**You: 5:57 PM**

what about the ribbon

**Light Blue Beauty: 5:57 PM**

it brings out my eyes!!!

**Light Blue Beauty: 5:57 PM**

besides, I already told you, drunk people don't hit you as hard if ur cute

**Light Blue Beauty: 5:58 PM**

ANYWAY it's called Grillby's, I'll send u the location in a second

**Light Blue Beauty: 5:58 PM**

ur gonna LOVE the bartender, he's pretty hot ;)

 

You smiled and clicked off the phone. Ribbing your friends is definitely on the Top 10 Fave Activities list. But it’s pretty late, so you decided to check it out tomorrow.

* * *

_ndj sgtpb du p udgvdiitc ixbt_

* * *

Okay, list of things your friend had NOT MENTIONED:

  * Grillby's was a monster bar. They probably sent you here mostly because they knew about your soul obsession. Cool.
  * The bartender (Grillby, who owned the place, awesome) WAS hot, because he was literally made out of fire.
  * There's a skeleton who drinks ketchup. The skeleton has been side-eyeing the fuck out of you and it was making you uncomfortable.



(Okay, you had to speak sometime! The longer you stayed silent the worse it would get, you just had to do this!)

 

"Um, hi, you're Grillby, right?"

".......yes."

(Ooh GREAT START! You sure didn't want to die at all!)

"Well, I had a friend mention you were looking for nighttime acts, and I was interested in applying."

"........sure. I'll take a listen to what you can do after closing time. Sans, can you hand them the application form?"

(Why can't he hand it to you himself? Oh, shit, he's made of fire...would it catch on fire? How did he function?)

"sure thing grillbz," the skeleton says, and slides over a piece of paper. (He still doesn’t look very happy to meet you, he may be smiling, but that is _definitely a fake smile_. You feel judged.)

"Um, thanks?"

"........have that filled out by tonight. See you later."

(Well! That could've gone worse! Maybe, if this works out, you won't have to work at fast food places anymore. Ooh, upgrading to a bar, how fancy.)

(Why are you so sarcastic)

* * *

_hdbtiwxcv xh pbxhh_

* * *

As it turns out, everything does work out, and you don't want to die. You alternate between piano and guitar on different nights, and when you feel confident enough, you sing. The monsters (and occasional human) are very nice, and not at all like a Stereotypical Drunk Crowd. Sans has stopped lowkey judging you, and Grillby has let you start helping with plates and stuff now that he trusts you not to break anything.

It's pretty good, for you. But, despite all these postive changes, you know nothing about souls. I mean, this is a bar, not a lab, but still. You’re pondering how to casually ask about souls without it being weird or anything.

 ***ping*** Shit, didn't you turn that off? Grillby gives you a look, he knows you take three years to text one sentence. You mouth 'sorry' at him, but you know this probably will take a while.

 

**Orange You Glad: 6:02 PM**

sup dork

**You: 6:02 PM**

I hate that username

**Orange You Glad: 6:03 PM**

better then 'Void Friend', I always feel like it's 2009 when I talk to you

**Orange You Glad: 6:03 PM**

anyway, heard u were working at grillbys

**Orange You Glad: 6:03 PM**

dude I love that place !

**You: 6:04 PM**

nice. Yknow I'm actually working rn so maybe u could stop

**Orange You Glad: 6:04 PM**

nah.

**Orange You Glad: 6:04 PM**

anyway I actually just wanted advice

**You: 6:05 PM**

:))))) sure pal wassup. Cause im def the Good Advice friend.

**Orange You Glad: 6:05 PM**

are u mad at me now? Whatev idc. Anyway I might have punched my neighbor

**You: 6:05 PM**

????

**Orange You Glad: 6:07 PM**

the neighbor I want to date

**You: 6:07 PM**

???? HOW

 **Orange You Glad: 6:07 PM**  
I panicked !!!!!

**You: 6:08 PM**

I don't have time 4 ur shit pal

**You: 6:08 PM**

I have no idea how to deal with this

**You: 6:08 PM**

did u knock ur neighbor out

**Orange You Glad: 6:09 PM**

no?

**You: 6:10 PM**

too bad u could've changed ur username to "1 Punch Man"

**Orange You Glad: 6:11 PM**

NOT FUNNY but I might actually change my username good idea

**You: 6:12 PM**

cool, leave me alone now Grillby is going to kill me if I don't stop

**Orange You Glad: 6:12 PM**

thx for nothing

 **You: 6:12 PM**  
no prob

* * *

  _iwxh xh cdi ndjg ixbtaxct_

* * *

So, nothing in your life has changed much, you still don’t know anything about souls. Actually, wait, something has changed! Now you’re having weird dreams that you can’t remember much off. _Definitely_ an improvement.

The reason you don’t know anything about souls, though, is mostly due to everyone’s refusal to cooperate. Sans, as it turns out, is really good at deflecting questions, and Grillby shrugs and mumbles something about owning a bar, not a lab. And the rest of the monster regulars are dogs. You love them, but they don't know anything.

You are _very_ persistent. Sans WILL crack eventually, and anyone who goes to that much trouble to deflect questions has to know some info of use!

"So...Sans...can I _treble_ you for a second?"

"was that a piano pun?"

" _Alto_ that could be true, it could be a vocal pun as well. Not the point."

"i don't know, sounds like you wanna get into into a pun fight with me."

"You respond best to puns. Anyway, I was just so wondering something."

"...listen, if this is about souls-"

"-history says that human magicians sealed you guys underground, but humans can't do magic? So does that have something to do with soul strength, or?”

"okay, aside from the fact that you ignored me...listen, pal, i'm not a scientist."

"It's theoretical! Besides, I've seen you reading that quantum physics book!"

"there's a joke book hidden in that."

"NOT the point! People don't own quantum psychics books just to secretly read joke books in public!"

Sans rolls his eyes (you still have no idea how that works. He’s a skeleton, but magic is weird).

"okay, even if I do understand science. hypothetically. my research wouldn't be focused on souls, capiche? it would be more focused on dimensional/timeline hypothesis, math, and the possibility of a singular void dimension existing near all timelines."

Well. You hadn't been expecting that. Now you were getting somewhere. You motioned for him to continue.

"so, yknow the CORE, right? well, i might've helped with that. but the main man behind it might've been more into soul research then i am. he also retired. he’s on...vacation, right now, and frankly, it’s none of your business.”

"But..." You're speechless, usually an unattainable event. "...what am I supposed to do, exactly, if he can't answer my questions?"

Sans shrugs. "maybe you should do a little research of your own."

* * *

_ndj sgtpb du udgvdiitc ugxtcsh_

* * *

**You: 11:10 AM**

and then he told me to stay out of it!!! Can u believe

 **Dance!: 11:12 AM**  
idk man he might've had a point w/the lab thing

**You: 11:12 AM**

well obvs he did but...ahh sans just annoys me so much

**You: 11:13 AM**

like I feel like we could be friends if he didn't live in a constant state of annoying me

**Dance!: 11:13 AM**

wait. Sans??? Skeleton, wears adorable blue hoodie, short??

**You: 11:14 AM**

....yes?

**Dance!: 11:14 AM**

holy shit I love sans wtf

**You: 11:15 AM**

omg what

**Dance!: 11:15 AM**

yeah his brother is in my fencing class, and his brother's boyfriend is in my ballet and yoga classes, so I see him a lot?

**Dance!: 11:16 AM**

he's cute I'd tap that

**You: 11:17 AM**

he's a skeleton

**Dance!: 11:18 AM**

a skele-ton of fun

**You: 11:18 AM**

he drinks ketchup

**Dance!: 11:18 AM**

whatever

**You: 11:19 AM**

I've never seen him wear anything but that hoodie, ever

**Dance!: 11:20 AM**

well, blue is my favorite color ;)

**You: 11:20 AM**

stop that

**Dance!: 11:21 AM**

;) ;) ;)

* * *

_ndj sgtpb du upaaxcv_


	2. Hey, What Could Go Wrong?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You decide to start researching souls, and answer an online application to work with Dr. Alphys. She performs an experiment with you, with unexpected results.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so um....thanks so much for all the positive feedback! Like literally I was soooo nervous about posting this bc of all the low-key OCs in it (and also bc once you post a self insert, everyone knows you're trash) but I'm very glad that you all liked it! 
> 
> More focus on you and the monsters this chapter (feat. 3 seconds of Gaster). The Human Friends™ will show up more next chapter.
> 
> (Changed the summary...and the policy that I’ll be switching ciphers. Caesar cipher unless stated otherwise. Again, because ao3 doesn’t support wingdings, Gaster speaks in cipher!)

* * *

You decided to listen to Sans.

That was, admittedly, a statement you never believed you would think. Literally every interaction you'd had with Sans previously was filled with the World's Worst Puns™ and maybe some bad advice. You'd only met his brother a few times, but you sure did relate on a deep level to the outrage Papyrus expressed every time Sans made another bad joke.   
  
Whatever. He was still right....scientists don't just wait around for someone else to do their work for them!  So what if you weren’t technically a scientist, and had no idea where to even begin? So what if the still-existing unspoken taboo on souls meant you would have to find a lab that wouldn’t ask questions? So what if this would probably crash and burn within a week of starting?

...was that optimism or pessimism? You really weren’t sure.  
  
Well, no matter what is was, nothing was going to happen if you didn’t start looking. This whole thing was Sans’ idea, maybe he would have a recommendation...too bad none of your reallt good friends had labs. That would’ve been a stroke of luck.   
  
Wait...hadn’t you seen something online recently about a monster scientist looking for a human assistant? Something about experimenting for DT? You remembered it because it was on the Mew Mew Kissy Cutie forums, and so out of place with the other topics ( right between “Did Mew Mew have the ethical right to spare Boyfriend X?” And “Bark Bark Kissy Cutie: Discuss”). Well...you certainly weren’t going to just accept it without figuring out who they were first...there are dangerous people online! Still… 

* * *

_uhzna fbhyf ner dhvgr gur zlfgrel_

* * *

This is it. This is the most dangerous thing you’ve ever done. Every anti-stranger infomercial you’ve ever seen did nothing, taught you no lesson, the messages produced on low budgets lost in your determination to figure out what the hell souls were.  
  
Besides, Alphys is probably really nice! Anyone who uses their real name on an anime forum is probably too sheltered to understand why that’s not usually a good idea!   
  
~~oh my gosh this was a giant mistake why didnt you just ask sans~~     
  
Well! There was no going back now! If it did turn out to be an internet predator, you could just kick them or something. Hopefully.   
  
Were those footsteps? Oh dear, they were...potential internet threat approaching...this was it, your last moments, your final breath…   
  
“Um, h-hello? Are you the human that contacted me online?”   
  
….Alphys was actually the most adorable person who had ever met. How could you have even been worried that she was an internet murderer? Granted, she could’ve still been, but she looked way to nervous to hurt you.   
  
"Yep! That's me! And you're Alphys, right?"   
  
She laughed nervously (oh, what a pure gem). "Y-yep, that's me. I'm k-kinda relieved you didn't turn out to be a m-murderer or something."   
  
Alphys knew what was up. "Yep, there's dangerous people online," You agreed. "Luckily, I don't think I could be dangerous if I tried."   
  
Was that funny? Did that sound dumb if you said it out loud? Alphys laughed again (mission success!) and gestured for you to follow her.   
  
"S-so...you mentioned being interested in h-how human souls function...well, DT, or DETERMINATION, is probably your best bet. Basically, it's what makes h-humans generally stronger then m-monsters..."   
  
"Cool. So, monsters don't have DT?"   
  
Oh, Alphys visibly tensed at that. Maybe you shouldn't have ruled out the Internet murderer thing yet?   
  
"U-um, w-well not technically-I mean hypothetically w-we could always inject it b-but that’s not what we’re focusing on right now…”

You shrugged. “Fair enough. So, what do we know about souls so far? Are they actually color coded?”

“Y-yes, actually. Obviously we had a...l-limited resource of souls to study Underground, but...we do know a bit about certain soul types. F-for example, humans with green souls w-will typically have a higher DEF. O-or monsters could temporarily change someone’s soul type, but only in-battle.”

“Huh. Where does the monster’s power stem from? Could humans be able to do the same?”

“T-the general idea is that monsters a-are...magical beings, so i-it’s a genetic thing. As for w-what humans can and can’t do...t-that’s what you’re going to help with.”

* * *

_lbh jba'g erfg hagvy lbh'er nyy qbar_

* * *

Pros to meeting Alphys:

  * You received a shit-ton of reading to do on existing soul knowledge, so new info was just around the corner!
  * Also, you were now in an environment where your questions about soul function were potentially beneficial!
  * Seriously, this was some Main Character in a Science Movie stuff!



Cons to meeting Alphys:

  * Like, a lot of reading. _A lot_ of reading. You really had to power through this.
  * Souls were actually color coded??? The quizzes were right???
  * Grillby was looking ready to _flare_ every time you accidentally ignored him because you were too immersed in the text. You were worried he was going to _fire_ you.
  * Nevermind, anything that led to puns of that quality couldn’t have any more cons.
  * You should’ve been reading, not making lists! Ah, you had to leave now or you were going to be late for your lab arrangements



“Yo, I’m heading out for the day, Grillby! I’ll be back tonight!”

Grillby acknowledged you with a nod, and you grabbed your papers and started the walk to Alphys’ lab. Everything was just going so _well!_ Other than the 7 times you had neglected to respond to a customer (no joke, you really needed to stop or Grillby probably would fire you), everything was going pretty smoothly.

Although you still weren’t to clear on whether or not genetic soul color affected humans in battle...like, would a normally blue soul be heavy generally? And your understanding of DT was definitely going to need some work. What did it even do? The papers were vague, but it was clear it had some soul-altering properties. There were some serious holes in this work, though...

The problem with not being finished with your reading was that if the question was answered in another analysis, you would look like a fool. It was too soon to slander your scientific reputation. You would have time for that later.

You hadn’t run any actual tests on your soul yet, but hopefully you would today. Alphys had messaged you and mentioned something about a battle simulator (but knowing her, she might accidently simulate an anime dating game). Either way, you could test your theories about humans doing soul magic then.

“Hey, Alphys!” You shouted as you closed the lab door behind you. “We’re testing my soul today, right?”

“Y-yep, just give me a m-minute!”

Neato then, just enough time for you to straighten up...whatever had happened to this room.

Seriously, how did you not notice when you walked in? Someone had punched the TV, apparently, and smashed some beakers on the nearby desk. That area was a straight-up danger zone. What was Alphys doing?

“O-oh, hello! I s-see you found the, uh, shatter theory remains?” Alphys said as she approached you, sweeping up the glass.

“That’s the least plausible excuse I’ve ever heard. What happened here?”

“W-well...I was watching anime with…”

Oh my gosh, was Alphys blushing? She totally was! “Go on,” you smirked.

“...w-with my girlfriend, Undyne. We were watching the Sword Hand Man finale, and...it wasn’t v-very good.”

Aw, that’s adorable...aside from the mass destruction. Still, good for her. But… “Undyne? That sounds...really familiar, for some reason.”

“I’m not sure where you would’ve heard it...you also work at Grillby’s, r-right? She and I have a l-lot of mutual friends who eat there.”

“I guess that makes sense,” you agreed, but something seemed off. Not important, though… “Hey, are you ready to simulate some situations for my soul?” Man, try saying that 10 times fast.

“Y-yep! Right this way, p-please.”

You followed her to...a chair? No, wait, it looked like a normal chair, until you saw the helmet with those weird rods sitting on the table next to it.

You weren’t sure exactly how secure this machine was.

“So, uh...what exactly is this supposed to do? Is this, like...going to brainwash me, or something?”

“H-hopefully not! It’s a falling simulator...you d-don’t have a fear of heights, r-right?”

You shook your head no, even if they did scare you a little bit.

“Good,” Alphys continued. “My friend Frisk suggested this, b-because they mentioned something about their DT kicking in after f-falling Underground. W-we’re just going to see if your soul reacts to the artificial situation.”

“Sounds...good. I guess.”

Within three minutes, you were ready to go. You gripped the chair’s armrests...you had never fallen from any dramatic height, but the entire situation was so weirdly familiar. You gave Alphys a thumbs up, and closed your eyes.

* * *

_ohg gurer'f fbzrguvat zvffvat sebz lbhe uvfgbel_

* * *

[S N Y Y V A T jnf fb snzvyvne lbh unq qrsvavgryl sryg guvf orsber

Ohg jura? Jurer? Jub Ubj Jul?

Znlor abg va guvf yvsrgvzr]

You felt the air rushing past you, the sensation of free flying hitting you all at once. The fear quickly followed: if you had been falling for this long and had yet to see ground, impact was going to hurt.

 _It’s just a simulation_ . You reminded yourself. _It’s not real, and I’m fine._

But you were still falling, and you might’ve been speeding up, and it was slowly worming its way into your mind that _this might have been a mistake_ , and

STOP

* * *

_punatr gur inyhrf, yrg'f unir fbzr SHA_

* * *

This was not the lab.

This wasn’t even ground! Just...darkness, as far as you could see.

Alphys, _what the hell._

“Okay, um...I can fix this! Just gotta...um…”

Oh, you were screwed. How did you even wind up here? It was just a...a falling simulator! What were you even testing for, again?

Hmm...Alphys wanted to see if an artificial fall would activate the DT, right? Maybe that was what happened. But...then why would you be sent here? As far as you knew, you’d never gone to Eternal Darkness to escape heights before. And how would DT even send you here?

“AGH, this is SO FRUSTRATING!”

"Bu, vf fbzrbar gurer?"

Holy shit what was that.

"Pna lbh urne zr? Ner lbh nyevtug?"

Was that a voice? Was someone else here? This was it, you were going to die in the dark at the hands of a stranger. Personally, you thought your death would be a lot cooler...if this wasn’t so scary, you probably would have been disappointed.

"Uryyb? Pbhyq lbh erfcbaq, cyrnfr? V pna'g frr lbh, jurerire lbh ner, naq vg vf dhvgr jbeelvat."

Whatever it was was getting closer...that was it. You weren’t going to go hiding, you were going out with a fight! You jumped up, fully prepared to scream something dumb (maybe like “You’ll never take me alive!”), but before you got the chance…

...you were face to face with the darkness creature.

“AHHHHH!”

"NTUUUU!"

Was _that_ the darkness creature? It looked like...a pile of goo? With a face, and hands. Vaguely...human shaped. Surprisingly non threatening.

“Holy shit, man, are you trying to kill me? I mean, I don’t know. I actually don’t know. Can you answer that, and maybe put me at ease?”

"Xvyy lbh? Ab, bs pbhefr abg, V'z fbeel gb unir pnhfrq lbh nynez!"

“I, uh...I’m not getting that.”

"Bu, zl ncbybtvrf. Qb lbh fvta?" It…(he?) accompanied the words with some hand gestures. Was that a form of sign language?

“I don’t...sign either.”

"V frr...yrg zr gel fbzrguvat."

What? This was not a winning situation for you. Wait, was it getting closer? No, you _did not_ want to fight Mystery Void Man, nooo way. What was it even doing? Did...did it just spawn _another pair of hands_? Those hands were definitely getting closer, and you did not like the looks of the blue light around them. It got steadily brighter, and then suddenly...blinked out.

“Ah, that should be better! I am pleased to make your acquaintance!” Void Man said.

What had just happened? You were too shocked to respond, and it (they?) mistook your confusion for fear.

“Oh, I am so sorry about frightening you! I don’t tend to get many visitors here. I’m W.D. Gaster, former Royal Scientist! At least...I think I was. Things get a bit...muddled, here”

“Oh, uh, I’m-” But you blanked. Did you just...forget who you were? What?? “Uh...I can’t seem to remember.”

“Yes, that does happen sometimes,” Gaster replied sadly. “It’ll return, eventually. In theory. Alternatively, you could forget that you had even forgotten anything.”

“...that’s comforting.” He laughed at that. “So, uh...where are we?”

“Well, my friend, this,” he gestured to the darkness behind him. “is the void.”

Oh, you were _so screwed._

* * *

_lbh pel sbe uryc_

_ohg gurer vf abar_


	3. Let's Play 20 Questions With the Non-Existent Void Spirit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Icebreakers with Gaster. Some new information is gained, and you both freak out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> late updates woohoo. Whatever, i never established an update schedule and i never will
> 
> Seriously though, It makes me really excited to post a chapter and see your reactions, which isn’t something I’ve normally experienced. Thank you all!! (literally, half of the comments section is just filled with me dying at everyone's kindness. I should probably stop cluttering the comments lmao)
> 
> There is an absurd amount of pseudo-science in this, and it sure is fun to write. I lied about Human Friends™ being in this chapter btw
> 
> Gaster’s relationship with Sans is ambiguous and can probably be interpreted however you want to

* * *

Time was already a meaningless human construct, but at least it used to serve a purpose. It existed. It told you when to go to things, and even if you ended up being late, you knew you were late, because the measuring construct would tell you. Time was still meaningless in the void, but more in the ‘everything is meaningless here’ way. As in, it didn’t exist, and you had no idea how long you’d been there.

Also, was time a monster construct too? They didn’t have the sun Underground, and as far as you knew, the weather stayed the same. So, did they have a timekeeping system? ~~Void Man~~ Gaster probably wasn’t a good person to ask, because he had presumably been stuck in the void for a while. You didn’t know how long, because time didn’t exist here! Great.

“This sucks,” you said. Gaster nodded in agreement.

“I’m afraid we can’t exactly do anything about it. I’m surprised we are even able to converse, this _is_ an infinite space, it was far more probable you would have ended up in another sector entirely.”

“Maybe only a small portion is accessible to living beings?”

“I would agree, but I am not sure how ‘alive’ I am.”

“Fair enough,” you noted. “Oh, hey, what did you do that makes you able to speak English? I didn’t ask at the time because I was freaking out.”

“Oh? I didn’t speak English, I just gave you the capability to understand what I was saying. I’m not quite sure how _that_ works, I really can’t perform any tests in here.”

“Void magic?” You grinned. “Dude, that sounds awesome, I wanna do that.”

“I’m not sure how accessible that is if you don’t have previous magic experience,” he laughed. “You adapted fairly quickly to this situation, I see. It took me a very long time to calm down.”

“I’ve always been adaptable,” You lied, knowing full well minor inconveniences could easily send you into tears. “But, uh, the way I see it is that if I managed to land myself in here, there must be a way to get out.”

That look he gave you...was not filled with confidence and support. Looked more like pity…

“That is...an interesting viewpoint,” Gaster said. Great, now the two of you were back at the awkward silence. This was literally the worst place to meet a new person, _ever_ , even more then when you went on that blind date with that full-time mime.

You shuddered. You couldn’t remember your own name, but you could remember _that_? Come on, infinite void magic.

“So, uh…” You started, because if you were gonna be trapped here forever, you should at least be friends with the singular other person who existed (didn’t exist?) with you. “...not like we have anything better to do, wanna swap cool stories and hypothesize escape routes?”

He laughed again...you weren’t sure if you were really funny or if he was just really lonely. Probably both. Either way, it was nice to feel appreciated for your natural wit, even if you weren’t actually telling jokes.

“Can we, like, sit down or something?” You asked. “I’m not sure if there’s solid ground in the void, but we must be supported by something, because otherwise I wouldn’t be standing. I don’t know if you can float, but I do know that I can’t.”

“To be honest, I have no idea how this place works either. Normally I would experiment as much as possible, but...as I’m sure you can see, there’s not really any way to do that. Something I have noticed, though, is that there’s no noise created by anything other than me-well, us now. For example, no footsteps.”

Wow, he was right. You jumped. Nothing. How did this place even work?

“Well,” you pondered, sitting down. “I guess the void wouldn’t have to conform to normal laws. I’m not sure how much logic you can apply to this place. It’s weird, because gravity works, I just jumped, but if all laws didn’t apply, I would’ve floated.”

Gaster joined you on the floor, nodding. (You weren’t sure if he sat or not. He didn’t appear to have a body, it looked more like a mass of tar than anything. Would it be rude to ask why he was so...not-put-together? Probably.)

“Well,” you continued. “At least we can see each other, despite no visible light sources existing. This would be 100% scarier if I didn’t know what you looked like.”

Gaster giggled (like, an _actual_ giggle, that was _adorable_ ), and you changed your mind about the void. The void was now the best place to meet new people.

* * *

_Max lvtkl rhn'ox atw tee rhnk ebyx_

_Atw mh vhfx ykhf lhfxpaxkx_

* * *

Gaster was really cool. Like, _really cool_. At least you got trapped in the void with someone as interested in soul/magic studies as you were.

Seriously though, so far you had covered:

  * Whether or not a human could, hypothetically, do magic. (Gaster thought that DT was the extent of human magic. You disagreed, there was no way that humans could have color coded souls but not do the soul magic associated with it)
  * Whether or not DT was actually magic (You and Gaster agreed that it was, but you couldn’t quite agree on its capabilities)
  * You wanted to know how monsters stayed together if they were primarily magic, and Gaster gave this ridiculously complex explanation which basically consisted of ‘monster souls are so weak mainly because the focus of the magic is to hold the body together’
  * And then you were all “Then how can monsters do more magic than humans if it takes so much energy to hold them together?”
  * And he said “Because of the constant magic flow that sustains us, it’s much easier to tap into that then it would be for humans, who are more DT based.”
  * _Awesome._



But you were, honestly, all scienced out. While all the information you were getting was awesome, you still weren’t technically a scientist, just a human with a vested interest in magic. When he brought math into it when trying to explain how monsters with levitation magic actually moved things, you decided to change the subject, because you weren’t going to do math in the void. Gaster couldn’t really understand why you wouldn’t, but decided to comply so he could catch up on current events.

“So, how are things with monster-kind?”

“Oh, yeah, I guess you wouldn’t know, ‘cause you’ve been in here. Um, great, they’re free!”

Gaster looked utterly shocked. “Come again?”

“Yeah, they broke the barrier? There aren’t specific details released right now, and some people are speculating that the King murdered someone, but I don’t think I believe that. Alphys won’t tell me, though, even though I’ve been bugging her about it.”

“Alphys? Is she doing well?”

“Yeah, she has a girlfriend and I think she has your old job. You know her?”

“I...did, yes. She was one of my interns when I existed, it is good to hear she is alright. But never mind that, how did you get here if monsters are free?”

“What?”

“I...fell...into the CORE a while ago, I was literally scattered across dimensions. How did you get here if not that way? Assuming that you didn’t visit the Underground on vacation and the CORE was still activated, for some reason.”

“Um, Alphys put me through a falling simulator to see how my soul would react and I panicked? And now I’m here. Oh my gosh,” You realized, suddenly standing up. “If I’m here, like, _actually here_ and not in a coma, Alphys has no idea where I am! I just disappeared! Oh my gosh, she’s gonna be so worried, I have to text her or something! I have to text my friends, I don’t know how long I’ve been gone, what if Grilby fired me-”

“Hmm. Delayed reaction to your problems, I see. But don’t worry, if you ended up in the void, they probably doesn’t remember you.”

“What does that mean? Why wouldn’t they remember me? And why wouldn’t that be a reason to worry?”

“You don’t exist anymore. More pressingly, though, is how that came to be! Your transport was most certainly linked to DT, because even if your theory about humans being able to do the soul magic connected to their soul color is true, teleportation isn’t associated with soul color. I know DT can teleport in extreme situations, but that’s more time connected-”

“I don’t exist?”

“-and DT teleports to places the human has already been! That’s what the research showed! Timelines jumping all over the place, but the patterns were always the same. So why would you be teleported here if you’ve never been here? No one just ‘accidently’ ends up the void, and you most certainly can’t teleport into it!”

“Maybe you should stop explaining everything with DT, but can we focus on the me-not-existing thing? I thought you were joking about you not existing?”

“And why do our scars match? I only have these because those pieces of me are lost in timelines I’m not close enough to observe. Why would you be missing similar pieces? I guess not coming here via the CORE explains why you’re so...solid. But that is the only part of this that makes sense!”

Oh man, he was right about this making no sense. You absently ran your fingers over the two scars that extended from your eyes. Odd, you had forgotten about those as well. He was right, they really did look like his, and that _really was_ confusing. But you weren’t going to solve any void mysteries this way. You had to intervene.

“Gaster, dude, can we just chill for a sec?”

“No!”

“Okay, fair enough. Just...slow down, and maybe we answer each other's questions. You can start.”

“Fine. Where did you get those scars from?”

“Shit. Uh, I’ve had them forever? I joke about getting them in a knife fight, but that...didn’t actually happen.”

“Oh, that _certainly_ was helpful.”

“Hey, don’t get all sarcastic on me. How did you fall into the CORE? That’s the power source Underground, right?”

“Yes, it is. I built it, you know. Though the events leading to my death are somewhat blurry, I definitely know I ended up in there somehow.”

You were about to joke about how hypocritical he was, giving you a vague answer, but something Sans said to you seemed awfully important right now.

_"so, yknow the CORE, right? well, i might've helped with that. but the main man behind it might've been more into soul research then i am. he also retired.”_

“WAIT, hold on, you built the CORE?”

“Yes, an achievement I’m fairly proud of. I believe I get a question now?”

“Yeah, sure, but hold on a second-”

“...I’m not sure that’s how the rules work.”

“Gaster, seriously, did you know a skeleton named Sans?”

“I would like to point out again that it is not your turn, but yes, I did. Why?”

“He remembers you.”

“What?” Really? No, he couldn’t, no one else does, I don’t exist anymore.” He sounded so...resigned, more like he was talking to himself.

“He does, I swear! I was bugging him about soul functions and he mentioned ‘main man’ who built the CORE would probably be able to help more than he would-he was right, by the way-but that it wasn’t my business. He told me you were retired. But I mentioned it to Alphys, and she couldn’t remember who built the CORE, or whether or not you were retired. So he has to remember you in some way, right?”

Oh, Gaster looked so hopeful at that. He rubbed his eyes, and it really looked like he was about to cry.

“Oh my...I haven’t been able to interact with Sans much during my time here, and even when I could I was sure he didn’t know who I was, or forgot after. I...thank you so much, for telling me that.”

“Hey, no problem. How about we just...take a little break?”

“Yes, of course. I need to collect my thoughts…” He rubbed his forehead. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“Of course not! Take as much time as you need, I need to figure some stuff out too.”

He smiled gratefully, and walked a few steps away, muttering to himself under his breath. You sighed; you had literally no idea to deal with any of the information you had just gained.

Hmm, what had Gaster said about interacting with Sans? It made sense that it would’ve been hard for him to do, he didn’t have a phone or anything, so he would’ve had to physically transport himself out of the void for a short period of time. Or, like, project his essence, or something.

You pulled out your phone, and stared at it. You wondered…if he could contact someone briefly but remain trapped in the void, how would a phone work?

Well, at least you had something to do while Gaster pondered.

* * *

_Ztlmxk zhm abl ykhf max VHKX_

_Ftrux rhn zhm rhnkl maxkx?_


	4. The Message Says 'Delivered' But I Know You Saw It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You have really good cell phone service. Gaster has really good ideas. Together, you are a team.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think the only thing more surprising then me updating a story semi-regularly is me updating a story and actually knowing where the plot will go. This is some next-level occurrence guys *X-Files theme plays while I furiously type this*
> 
> Also: I might go back and edit the texting system to give the Human Friends names bc obvs there's gonna be 6 of them and it might be a little confusing. I don't rly want to (bc it kinda destroys the accessibility) but I mean it's not like y'all have IRL friends who are exactly like these ones so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ 
> 
> Also! Thanks again for being so supportive! Feel free to hmu on tumblr guys I'd love to talk to u!! (http://hylianfishfood.tumblr.com/)

If there was one thing you were thankful for, it was your obsessive battery saving habits. Alphys had made as many adjustments as she could to your phone (like the region sensitive clock, and the anime theme song ringtones), and although these additions were super cool, they drained your battery if you didn’t turn down the brightness, like, all the way. You had done that with your less-cool previous phones, as well, but it was vital when using the Alphys-Adjusted model.

You had kinda hoped she could’ve solved the battery problem...seriously, every day you would face at least five “is your phone on, I can't tell because the screen is so dark haha” comments. You had to admit, “I don't want to run out of charge so I put it on the lowest brightness to conserve battery” sounded really lame when you said it out loud.

But who was laughing now? Not you, because you were trapped in the void. Probably still those people, because they hadn't suddenly disappeared from their universe. But hey, at least your phone battery paranoia meant that you were at an 89% charge right now. The void might not conform to normal universe absolutes, but it definitely conformed to the 'universes don't spawn chargers and plugs to those in need' law, so you were going to need that battery.

Hmm, first things first: what was up with the time? You had assumed that the clock just wouldn't have worked, but instead the time was changing left and right. Your assumption about time not existing seemed to have been somewhat true, but it looked like instead of no time happening in the void, all of time was happening at once. Okay, that might make leaving tricky, if you had to wait for a specific window. But on the other, maybe the clock was just hyper-sensitive to the void, and didn’t actually portray real-world time? Or maybe the void was connected to a bunch of other multiverses (Sans did mention something about a singular void dimension near all others, right? Implying that there were others...and Gaster had mentioned being scattered across multiple dimensions.), and the clock was just picking up those times.

Ugh, was there a possibility you would get out the void and end up in an alternate universe? Like what, everything is the same except everyone is edgier? Ohhh, what if everyone was role-swapped, or a dancer or something. Although those did sound pretty cool, you were not in the practice of killing your double and taking their place, so...hopefully you wouldn’t ever be put in that situation.

Okay, enough about the multiverse possibilities, you had to check and see if there was access to any form of communication. Looks like there wasn’t any Wi-Fi, but you still had access to data? (Okay, this was _definitely_ the right choice for a service provider, that was some _good range_ ) Looks like no social media worked, though. To be fair, the Tumblr app functioned like that normally.

Calls didn’t go through, either. Every contact on the phone program was marked as [REDACTED], which sounded really ominous. Calling one of the [REDACTED] contacts just got you a ‘Call Error’ message, so that wasn’t going to work anytime soon. Guess the only thing left to check was texting…

Hmm. Alphys, who you remembered had most recently texted you, was marked as [REDACTED] as well. You tried to shoot her a quick message to see if it would work, but your words quickly changed to weird symbols after you pressed send, and that was followed by a ‘Message Send Failure’. Yikes.

But...even though half of your contacts were marked as [REDACTED], your human besties weren’t. What? Okay, you didn’t have any explanation, scientific or otherwise, for that. You weren’t going to question it though;if they weren’t [REDACTED], maybe a message would get through! Though, now the question was, who would get the least mad at you for disappearing (assuming that they still remembered you?)

….Got it.

 

 **You: 3 days ago  
** Yooo its me! Im not dead!

 **You: 3 days ago  
** Ahh I rly hope this works

 **You: 3 days ago  
** But yeah im kinda?? Trapped in a void???

 **You: 3 days ago  
** And I figured you would be the least mad at me

 **You: 3 days ago  
** And you would probably be the least skeptical too

 **You: 3 days ago  
** You wtf why does it say three days ago???

 **Violet Voice: 3 days ago  
** What?? Dude i just saw you an hour ago

 **Violet Voice: 3 days ago  
** Also: it does not say 3 days ago it says the time

 **Violet Voice: 3 days ago  
** And just bc I’m a writer doesnt mean im going to believe you when you say dumb things

 **Violet Voice: 3 days ago  
** …..tho u did just give me a great idea for a story

 **Violet Voice: 3 days ago  
** Im a little busy rn tho, I’ll check in with you later if you want to see if youve calmed down?

 **You: 3 days ago    MESSAGE SEND FAILURE  
** NO WAIT

**[REDACTED], Last contacted ? days ago, is not available right now.**

Oh, that went great. How were you supposed to contact you friends if the times they received the messages at points in time that you still existed? At least it seemed like they would still remember you, but what good would that do if you weren’t able to contact them for long?

You checked the battery...63%, ugh, the void drained battery quickly. Probably would be best if you just left it alone for now, in case something changed later. You could at least check on Gaster, as he had been very quiet for the past few...minutes? Hours? Not like time existed or anything, ugh.

* * *

_Lqfrqvlvwhqflhv lq wlpholqhv_

_Dqg brx: gluhfwob wkh fdxvh_

* * *

Gaster had assured you he was fine, but then he started to talk about the implications of not being completely wiped from everyone’s memory. You kind of wanted to bring up the texting thing, but he was talking really fast and you just didn’t have the heart to interrupt him. Besides, it probably wasn’t going to amount to anything, as your friend had ended up turning into another [REDACTED] number.

And there you were, getting completely sidetracked from this conversation that you were supposed to be actively involved in. It’s not even like it was boring material, but you sure didn’t think that being in the void meant you no longer had to sleep. Gaster’s voice was just...more calm than your thoughts right now, so you were just gonna nod your head and pretend to be involved, which sounded like a good plan.

***ding***

Your eyes shot open, frantically pulling the phone out of your pocket. Gaster stopped mid-sentence, and looked about as shocked as you felt.

“Uh,” you started, eloquently.

“...you should probably answer that.” He replied, and you could tell he was trying very hard to stay calm and not erupt into potential scientific explanations. You nodded.

 **Green Means Meme: 5:57 PM  
** DUDE WHERE R U

 **Green Means Meme: 5:57 PM  
** NO ONE HAS SEEN YOU IN A WEEK????

 **Green Means Meme: 5:57 PM  
** AND NO ONe EVEN NOTICED UNTIL THAT SKELETON BROUGHT IT UP AT GRILLBYS

 **Green Means Meme: 5:58 PM  
** HOW DID WE JUST NOT NOTICE LIKE THAT???? I FEEL SO BAD

 **You: ? PM  
** Omg are you getting this? Does it work??

 **Green Means Meme: 5:58 PM  
** YES WHERE R U

 **Green Means Meme: 5:59 PM  
** V MENTIONED GETTING WEIRD TEXTS FROM U ABOUT THE VOID 2 WEEKS AGO

 **Green Means Meme: 5:59 PM  
** THEY THOUGHT YOU WERE JOKING BC UR USERNAME IS VOID FRIEND

 **You: ? PM  
** I totally forgot that was my username wow thats ironic

 **You: ? PM  
** Listen i’d explain it to you but im not sure how much youd understand

 **You: ? PM  
** Are you still at grillbys? Is sans there??? He prob knows whats up give him the phone

 **Green Means Meme: 6:00 PM  
** OKAY BUT IM GRILLING YOU AND HIM LATER FOR EXPLANATIONS

 **You: ? PM  
** Cool

 **Green Means Meme: 6:01 PM  
** hey sup its sans

 **Green Means Meme: 6:01 PM  
** mind patellin’ me how you got trapped in the void

 **You: ? PM  
** Sans please I am facing potential death stop making puns

 **Green Means Meme: 6:02 PM  
** nah. hey, anyone else in there with ya?

 **You: ? PM  
** OH YEAH GASTER IS HERE BTW

 **You: ? PM  
** I told him that you low-key remembered him and he cried (probably happy tears but who knows…)

 **Green Means Meme: 6:03 PM  
** wait, ur serious?

 **You: ? PM  
** YES if ur gonna cry too do it later i wanna get out of here ASAP thx

 **Green Means Meme: 6:03 PM  
** sorry kiddo, i’ve been trying to get g-man outta the void for years.

 **Green Means Meme: 6:04 PM  
** and it doesn’t seem to be happening anytime soon.

 **Green Means Meme: 6:04 PM  
** frankly i’m surprised your friends remembered you when i brought it up

 **Green Means Meme: 6:05 PM  
** and they’ll probably forget about it soon

 **Green Means Meme: 6:05 PM  
** but, uh, just think of it this way

 **Green Means Meme: 6:06 PM  
** you got into the void on accident, and that’s something i’ve been trying to do on purpose for years

 **Green Means Meme: 6:06 PM  
** and because your friends remember you

 **Green Means Meme: 6:07 PM  
** i’m assuming you didn’t scatter your consciousness across dimensions

 **Green Means Meme: 6:08 PM  
** looks like you found a door somewhere. maybe it’s not a one-way door.

 **You: ? PM  
** WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN

 **Green Means Meme: 6:09 PM  
** tell gaster i said hi

**[REDACTED], Last contacted ? minutes ago, is not available right now.**

Oh my gosh. _Oh my gosh._ You glanced over at Gaster.

“...Sans says hi.”

* * *

_Exw lw'v wrr pxfk wr ghdo zlwk qrz_

_Wr edg wkdw wkhuh'v qr SDXVH_

* * *

After explaining and re-explaining how well your phone functioned in the void, and THEN having to wait while Gaster scrolled through your most recent conversation, you finally got your phone back (...did...did Gaster turn up the brightness a bit? He did...why would he do that, why would he hurt you like this).

“I cannot believe that thing works in here! This is a major breakthrough!”

Well, at least Gaster was happy. “Yeah, me too. Have any ideas?”

“Well, because Sans remembers us, and your friends remember you, we must exist in some form.  And if we exist, it’s not too much of a stretch to say that we could exist back in our dimension!”

“Wait, actually? That rocks! And to think,” you teased. “You were being all negative just a little while ago, saying how we weren’t technically present and stuff.”

“Yes, well, you must remember, I have been here for...far longer than you. Relatively, of course, time isn’t very linear here. However, let’s focus on what Sans mentioned, about the exit you may have created.”

“Y’know, I said something like that earlier, but now when _Sans_ says it, it means something? I’m kidding!” You said hurriedly, because Gaster seemed hurt at the accusation. Precious. “Okay, let’s say I got here through DT, even though I’m sure there’s another reason. The DT probably reacted to my panic, and sent me somewhere because of that. If it was DT, I probably ended up here because I wasn’t in control of my actions entirely, and it was more of an involuntary response to danger. Alternatively, because we both still semi-exist, there’s probably a rip in this space that one of us could access. Maybe we can use a combination of the two to get out?”

Ugh, that entire thing sounded a lot better in your head. “Uh, I guess.” You tacked on quickly, just in case.

“That makes a lot of sense, actually. Even if there isn’t a rip in the void’s fabric, using that as an image could trigger the DT, giving it actual options to leave, and it could very well get us out of here! Let’s try to get an idea of what we might need to focus on. “

“Sounds cool. Uh, I think that the DT might work better if I’m under pressure? I still don’t have any idea how it works, so I’m kind of spitballing here. But I reacted to being put in a fake-danger, and my soul was exposed, so…”

“Hmm. Yes, yes, I see. Okay, I’m just going to try something here, I promise you won’t be in any actual danger. I’m going to link our souls, so if you end up using DT to escape, theoretically, I will come with you. I’m going to ‘attack’ your soul, and I’m going to do it in the safest way possible. Is that alright?”

Um? Attack your soul? But Gaster wouldn’t hurt you, he just wanted to be out of here as much as you did. If you died, so did his chance of leaving, and that was definitely not a risk you thought he would take.

“Okay.”

* * *

_Rk zhoo, qrwklqj lv zlwkrxw lwv iodzv_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Casually puts half of the Important Plot Stuff in texting format (srsly, read the texts if you didnt, they are important in this one)
> 
> I don't like this chapter as much as the rest because its 50% texting, but I'm posting it anyway bc we Need this For Plot. I promise we are getting to the part where things might make sense and you interact with people more very soon
> 
> also: STRAIGHT OUTTA THE VOID


	5. Getting Out of the Void Should Probably Be Harder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You get out of the void with your new pal, and have really low stamina. Walking is hard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i saw BvS on friday….it was really good, and even if it could potentially be confusing for people not invested in DC comics, it in no way deserved the negative feedback. I have genuinely never enjoyed a superhero film more.
> 
> I must have written this chapter 4 times and this is the best it's getting….let’s hear it for writer’s block, and no plot advancement
> 
> Also!! Changed the summary again!!! And i will probably continue to change the summary bc my written plot outline changes drastically with every chapter i write. This is a wild ride.

You know, as a person, who had a reputation for making fairly good choices. Sure, you weren’t the ‘advice friend’, but you were at least the friend who would resolve a situation without any more drama. Sure, the last few weeks had maybe resulted in a _couple_ bad decisions, but those had ultimately ended up good, right? Alphys and Gaster turned out to be cool, non-murderous people. So, you had kinda had assumed that even if you continued to make bad choices, they would turn out okay, probably.

You were WRONG. Linking souls was definitely a mistake, there was no way anything _should be this painful._ From what you had seen in cartoons, fusion was supposed to be painless and cool! Though technically this wasn’t fusion, you had expected it to hurt! It was like losing your ability to move, like your soul wasn’t your own. Just from linking souls, you instantly realized how much more powerful he was than you, and how much of a bad idea everything you had ever done was.

What was the second part of this plan? He was going to fake attack you or something? You were just now fully realizing how truly unprepared you were for any and all situations after this.

And suddenly what you assumed was battle mode was triggered, and was that your soul? You glanced at the floating heart before focusing on the projectiles appeared, and shit, were those coming closer? They were, you were going to die in the void, in pain and afraid, and _you couldn’t do anything about it._ This was the worst you had felt in a long time, _epib emzm gwc owqvo bw lw?_

_ZMAMB ZMTWIL ZMBZG_

* * *

_al'k twwf s dgfy laew kafuw qgm'nw mkwv lzsl_

* * *

“AHHHHH!”

Okay, as usual, your gut reaction to dealing with things was screaming. But...if you had control over your vocal cords again, that meant…

You warily opened your eyes; the sun was shining, and birds were singing. You were really glad that you had escaped the void on a day like today, instead of, like, an intense snowstorm or something. But you had done it! You had really done it! But enough celebrating, it was time to freak out again.

Did Gaster escape too? Oh gosh, you hoped so, it would suck if you got out and he didn’t. You glanced around anxiously, and saw Gaster just a few steps behind you. Oh, thank goodness. He was still alive, _you could call him out._

Well...you could, but then he noticed you staring at him and gave you the biggest, most adorable smile. How could that much pure joy be contained in one face? Oh man, it was his first time being out of the void in forever, and it was also his first time on the surface...calling him out would be kind of a dick move. You decided against it (though maybe you could still call him out later).

“Soooo...looks like we’re out.” Ah, it seemed being in the void did not improve your vocabulary or conversation material. Damn.

“It would appear so! Oh, this is so exciting, absolutely amazing...I simply cannot thank you enough,” He stepped forwards and took your hands. “I really, truly, from the bottom of my soul, can not ever properly express my gratitude.”

Geez, this was getting intense. It was really flattering, though...but you were _not_ going to blush in front of your Cool New Friend™. You had more willpower than that. “Hey, no prob! It’s not that big of a deal...well, I guess it is, but you definitely came out with the exit route, I just helped.”

“Hmm. I suppose. I wouldn’t have been able to leave without you, though.”

“I guess...wanna figure out where we are?”

“Actually, if you don’t mind...I would like to stay here for a while. You can go along if you want, but...this is my first time on the Surface, and-”

“Hey, I understand completely! Take as much time as you need. But,” you added. “Don’t assume I’m leaving, I work at Grillby’s, which is Sans’ second home, and I think he might kill me if I show up without you.”

Gaster grinned gratefully, and you returned his smile. You could wait.

* * *

_A'e kmjhjakwv lzsl al kladd ogjck_

* * *

Well, you could wait, but not three hours. That wasn’t even an exaggeration, you had literally been here for three hours while Gaster studied everything in sight. What a dork.

“You know,” you called out. “You do live here now, these flowers are going to still be on Earth in a week.”

“But they’re so different from the ones we had Underground! The magical effect is fairly similar to another test I ran, a very long time ago, I wonder if genetic mutation affected it? That would be the only way...unless Echo Flowers exist up here, and it’s a descendant or cross breed?”

“Uh, I don’t think we have Echo Flowers?”

Gaster hummed thoughtfully and bent down again to examine the flower. You rolled your eyes. There was nothing for you to do right now, and not for a lack of trying. Your phone was dead (all that void-texting killed the battery), so you couldn’t check to see if it still worked or if contact names had been restored. And there weren’t any towns close enough for you to see anything more than a distant outline of houses.

The only thing that could give you a hint of where you ended up was this giant mountain that was really close to you. Ahhh, if only you had cared about the names of mountains, then you could at least get a sense of where you were. Though, if mountains could look familiar, that one would. Look familiar, you meant.

Okay, you were officially tired. You needed to sleep, soon, and not outdoors where dangerous creatures could easily step on you. You were not in the habit of being eaten by bugs, and you weren’t starting now.

“Gaster, seriously, sleep is something I need to function. My phone isn’t working, but I’m pretty sure we’ve been here for hours. Can’t you, like, pick some flowers and analyze them while we walk? I’ll make sure you don’t walk into anyone, or whatever.”

“Has it really been that long?”

“I realize you haven’t been in a society with functioning time for a while, so I’m gonna let the fact that you spent hours analyzing plant life slide, okay?”

“Fair enough. I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to take up so much time.”

“Dude, it’s chill, you _did_ warn me. I just think three hours is an excessive time for anyone to be around flowers.”

“It doesn’t matter how long the experiment takes, as long as you finish it.”

“Okay, well, you’re finished now.”

“...you _do_ have a point about the flowers, so I’ll agree.”

“There’s a town over there, and I’m sure we can make it there before I completely pass out. My credit cards and stuff are still at Alphys’, but I do have some cash hidden in my phone case, so we can crash at an inn. Probably.”

He didn’t have any objections, although honestly, you wouldn’t have minded if he came up with some super quick and easy solution that was way better than yours, because you did not feel like walking. But even scientific minds can only go so far, so it looked like walking it was.

Gaster was still so...generally enthusiastic. Like, sure, you were pumped to be out of the void as well, and then you remembered that student loans and taxes and responsibilities were a thing that you had to commit to now. Besides, if it turned out your friends did remember you, how were you going to explain your absence? How much time had you lost?

For Gaster, you were certain that his problems would be a lot more drastic. You had been gone for, maybe a few months at most, or a week at least (you hoped for that little, anyway). He had been gone for what you assumed was years, and had just disappeared from an important scientific position. Just the thought of dealing with those things freaked you out, so how was he staying so calm?

You side-glanced him as casually as you could without being obvious about it. You hadn’t noticed before, but his body seemed a lot more solid and less goopy than before. Now, he actually had a defined body structure (turns out he did have legs), which meant at least he wouldn’t have to explain the melting situation. Good for him. Although you didn’t have any idea how the reverse-gooping worked. Maybe it was a multiverse thing. You sure hoped not...but what else could it be? That was probably enough to occupy your mind while the two of you walked...the silence was nearly as unbearable if you refused to acknowledge its awkwardness.

* * *

_mkwv Mfvwjyjgmfv, sxlwj tslldwk gj uzslk_

* * *

It was a much longer walk then you had anticipated. But you had reached the destination, right? Neither of you passed out, so you considered it a win.

“Okay, let’s try to figure out where we are…” you murmured. “Hey, Gaster, did you see any signs while I was daydreaming?”

“I don’t believe so, and you look like you’re about to pass out. I’m not sure if I can carry you, so I think the inn should be the top priority.”

“You are right about all those things,” you yawned, beginning to walk. “Yeah, inns usually have some sort of map. Or hotels do, or something. Whatever, I’m sure someone will tell us later.”

“Please don’t actually faint.”

“I’ll try not too, G.” you lied. “Oh, I really hope that this is a town with a cheap, family-owned hotel, because I just remembered how much these things cost, and I don’t exactly have 200 dollars in my phone case. I don’t even care if it’s rundown as all hell, I just need to sleep.”

“Not sure if I can relate. Of course, monsters can sleep, and I when I worked as a scientist, sometimes I would simply fall asleep out of sheer exhaustion. I’m not particularly tired now, though.”

Great, another thing monsters were better at. You mentally noted that down. “Cool, I’ll save money and buy myself a bed. You can sit in a chair or something.”

“I mean, I wouldn’t be opposed to tha-”

“-Gaster, I was joking.”

“Ah. Well, you do realize it would be unreasonable to pay for another room when I don’t need to sleep, right? I could just spend the night trying to figure out where we are, or something along those lines.”

“It’s called courtesy. Clearly, you haven’t heard of it,” That was definitely a lie, Gaster was definitely among the nicest people you knew. “Anyway, I think this is an inn or something, so it’s too late for you to stop me.”

“...’Mountain-Side Spirit?”

“Yeah, sounds legit enough. Ooh, maybe it’s haunted.”

“Technically, we’re ghosts.” Gaster pointed out, opening the door.

“...Gaster, are you serious? Because that is awesome. Man, I hope so.”

The two of you walked in, and you immediately scanned the walls for a clock, finding one above the reception desk. 10:28 PM? That late already? Ughhh.

“Can I help you?” A fake chipper voice sounded from the desk. A short women with the World’s Fakest Smile™ grinned at you.

“Uh, yes, please,” you started. “Um, we’re looking to stay overnight, how much are the rooms?”

“One room runs 56 dollars!” Okay, so not as cheap as you had hoped (nothing ever was, not in this world), but still a pretty good deal. You had at least that much in your phone case.

“Cool.”

“How many rooms will you be needing? Just one?”

“Yes, one,” Gaster interjected, before you could get a word in. The lady smiled at him, and then winked at you. Did...did she think you were dating?

“Alrighty then! Here’s your key,” she handed you the key as you gave her the money. “It’s room 18, just down that hallway there.”

“Thank you so much,” at last, you could sleep. You grabbed Gaster’s wrist and started down the hall.

“Oh, by the way?” She called out. “You two are _super_ cute together.”

...Oh my gosh. Did that just happened. One quick look at Gaster's face, now tinged purple (he blushed purple? adorable) confirmed that yes, you were mistaken for a couple. You could feel your face heating up as well...mission ‘don’t blush in front of Gaster’ was now officially failed.

* * *

_mkwv oalz yjaesuwk gj keajck_


End file.
